Commonwealth Rent Assistance in Australia: quarterly data

Eligibility

Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) is assessed as part of the process for claiming a social security payment, and forms part of the rate of that payment.

To be eligible for CRA, families or individuals must qualify for either:

• eligible social security payment
• more than the base rate of Family Tax Benefit Part A.

or a Department of Veterans’ Affairs service pension, income support supplement or veteran payment and pay or be liable to pay more than a specified rent threshold.

Some social housing tenants may be eligible for CRA, such as those living in community housing or Indigenous community housing. CRA is not payable to tenants leasing from state and territory housing authorities as rent is subsidised. See Housing assistance in Australia – Technical notes.

Payment amount

Commonwealth Rent Assistance is non-taxable and paid fortnightly at 75 cents for every dollar of rent above a minimum rental threshold until a maximum rate is reached. The minimum threshold and maximum rates vary according to the household or family situation, including the number of children. CRA is indexed to the Consumer Price Index in March and September each year.

For information about CRA eligibility and payment rates see Services Australia and Department of Social Services.

The COVID‑19 pandemic

The jobless rate in Australia increased as the COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the Australian economy (Parliamentary Library 2020a). In the months leading to the COVID-19 pandemic, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was around 5% (from December 2019 to March 2020). By July 2020, it peaked at 7.4% – the highest in over 20 years. The economic and social impact of COVID-19 affected many Australians. However, the rate of unemployment has declined sharply since then, falling below the pre-pandemic level to 4.7% in July 2021, and to 3.6% in February 2023. In the 2024–25 financial year, the average seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to around 4.1% (ABS 2026). For more information on unemployment rates see Labour Force, Australia (ABS 2026).

In response to COVID‑19 and the associated increase in unemployment, the Australian Government made changes to social security payments from March 2020. Broadly, these changes meant that more people were eligible for and received social security payments throughout 2020 and 2021 (Parliamentary Library 2020b).

In 2020, the number of CRA income unit recipients and CRA expenditure peaked due to high unemployment and the temporary changes to social security that allowed more people to access income support during the height of the COVID‑19 pandemic.